Rest in Pieces

Happy New Year to you all! I hope your holidays were filled with love, friendship and lots of presents.. :) I apologize for the lack of posts over the past several weeks. I'm not even going to bother with excuses. Instead, I'm just going to declare blog bankruptcy, and start fresh this year with a clean slate. I do, however, feel really bad about the twitter cliffhanger regarding one of the collectibles, so lets get to that story... one I actually stared about 20 days ago... before yesterday's earthquake.. more on that later...


This post is hard for me to write because I'm saying a final farewell to beloved collectible, or make it 3 collectibles. I've posted about our Hitchhiking Ghost Masks in the past, but I don't think I've shared just how much we adored these masks. That's why its pains me to have to share with everyone that our masks are the unfortunate victims of Time's cruel affect on latex. Over our stressful summer we were unaware that Time had taken a deadly grip of our latex masks. We knew this process would happen, but we figured it would be a much slower undertaking. It seems that Time knew that we were distracted with our thoughts and concerns on other issues, so Time snuck in under a radar and sped up the deterioration process. Within a few short months, our masks were nothing but a fragile shell of what they used to be. We tried to make their move to our new house as painless as possible, but the more we tried to handle them, the more they fell apart. Ezra's faring better than the others, but that doesn't say much considering that Phineas has no face left and Gus is hanging by a thread of his beard, literally. The beard is all that remains. I didn't even have the strength to take his final picture.

Back in November 2007 I posted about our masks. You can see it here and check out for yourself just how devastating Time can be on latex.








I know using a vacuum handle to display Phineas is absolutely offensive. I'm in mourning, folks. I'm not thinking clearly.
Please forgive me.





As I said, no pics of Gus. It was just too difficult to get past the remnants of his face, scattered around and amongst his beard. Just too painful.

So now what? It seems so disrespectful to just throw these pieces away with the kitchen scraps. What do I do with them? Bury them with our pets in the backyard? (Not likely seeing that we just moved. Thankfully, we haven't had to bury anyone...yet.) Does latex burn? Should I scatter the ashes in the Mansion? (Also not likely. I'm really not supposed to condone that sort of thing.) Anyone have any good suggestions?


*****
This is what I had finished writing some 2 weeks or so ago and had intended to finish it last night when our house started shaking. Now, the USGS claims that it was only a 4.5 magnitude earthquake, but seeing how the epicenter was 2 miles from my house (ok, 2 miles south of my town) it sure felt much larger than that. As badly as the house shook, I only heard one picture fall over downstairs, and it was completely unharmed. My nerves, and my children's nerves didn't fare as nicely. It took awhile for everyone to calm down and come out from under the tables. So it wasn't until this morning, while looking for clothes in my upstairs closet, that I noticed something. Awful.

Remember this picture from when we first moved to our new house?




Well the stanchion and the gargoyle were still on that very shelf in my closet as of yesterday, until an earthquake at 7:49 pm sent one of them flying across the closet and landing on the floor in multiple pieces. Care to take a guess which piece it was?

It was of course, my absolute favorite piece in my entire collection! The one that I waited for years to get my hands on, and will probably wait years more if I am so lucky.

It was the gargoyle. I warn you now. These pictures are not for the weak collector.













Just rip my heart out while its still beating!




I more angry with myself than sad for not finding a better place to house this piece. But truth be told, there was no other place. We left the large entertainment center where our collection was previously stored at the other house, because it was just too cumbersome to move. It was a Big Lots special, not a family heirloom. My closet seemed out of the way, and therefor I thought it would be safe.

*Sigh*

So friends, readers of this blog, let us have a moment of silence for this masterful piece.







Screw the silence. I'm heartbroken and want to commiserate. Have any of you lost a favorite piece and were heartbroken over it? How did you ever recover? Please, share your story in the comments below. Your story will be very helpful to us all.

*Ugh* I hate starting the New Year on a sour note. Nothing like a little Merchandise Event to bring me out of my sorrow. Don't forget.. tickets go on sale in 11 days!

Haunted Mansion Event Announced

Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary Merchandise Event 09-09-09 (also happens to be my daughter's birthday) If you haven't been saving your pennies, you better now. Tickets go on sale Jan. 20 and 21st.

More info here.

Also, there is a Coctail Reception with Shag on August 8th in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Mansion.

More info here.


I'm recovering from a wicked cold, but will be posting soon about the devistating loss of our beloved HHG masks. They're doomed...